6



As soon as I heard this I took a lump of sugar, crushed it and

threw it on the sand. The first day my birds picked up some

morsels but afterwards did not seem to care for any more.


I next tried a berry of a very sweet muscatel grape, and

the juice of this the Gouldians drank with avidity; and thus I

had at last found some dainty morsel which the birds liked.


Towards the end of July I gathered some flowers in a

friend’s garden, and in doing so I gathered some stalks of an

ornamental grass. The thought occurred to me that my

Gouldians might fancy this, and I offered them a little, which

they took with great zest. When I gave more they finished

every morsel, and the effect of this additional food was very

remarkable. The moult finished in a couple of days, and the

colouring of the plumage became brighter than I had ever seen

it before.


I sent a specimen of the grass to Messrs. Sutton & Son,

the eminent seed growers of Reading, who kindly supplied the

botanical name, viz. Sctaria glajica, and added the following

information:—“Dr. Vasey of the U. S. A. Department of

Agriculture states, in his work on the Agricultural Grasses of

the United States, that the seeds of Sctaria glauca and Sctaria

viridis are eagerly sought for by birds and poultry, especially

among the stubble after harvesting wheat.”


My Gouldiau finches were within 3 days after tasting this

seed in the most perfect plumage, and my sickly hen is as well

and strong as any cage bird can be. Within 5 days both hens

began to lay, and this time without any mishap or trouble what¬

ever, and the eggs were perfectly developed and had hard shells.

Soft eggs and eggbinding seem to be a thing of the past.


Certainly the black-lieaded Cock broke and ate the eggs

again. If he were not such a beauty and such a very interesting

individual to watch, I should be inclined to wring his neck or

exchange him for another.


Anyhow, my two pairs of Gouldiau finches purchased

about a year ago are now in better health and plumage than

they were when I received them, have proved to be fairly hardy

and very interesting cage birds of very great beauty, and I have

no doubt that it would be comparatively easy to breed any num¬

ber in captivity.


As I have not at present access to a copy of Gould’s work

on Australian Birds I should be grateful to Dr. Butler if he

would kindly say whether the birds now known as Gouldiau



